Decadently Rational, Habitually Emotional
by OverMaster
Summary: A series of crossover snippets between Unequally Rational and Emotional and Decadent Habits. Authorized by Darkenning. Not in true continuity with either series. No explicit lemons! Seriously!
1. Chapter 1

I don't own _Mahou Sensei Negima_. That claims belongs to Akamatsu Ken, who really has dropped the ball with the latest arc, but let's not get there…

I am not making any money out of this. If I could make money out of fanfics, believe me, I'd write a lot more!

Thanks to Darkenning for the inspiration. Also thanks to Shadow Crystal Mage, I Am Not Creative Enough, and the rest of the gang.

These snippets aren't in actual continuity with either _Unequally_ or _Decadent_. Or with each other, as a matter of fact.

Please try to enjoy and review. In that order.

_One twisted world full of melancholy over the past and the bad decisions…_

_One twisted world full of hope for the future while taking all the questionable decisions…_

_A meeting that never should have happened…_

DECADENTLY HABITUAL, HABITUALLY EMOTIONAL

**Chisame: ****Too Close Home for Comfort**

"Well, we'll try to be back before midnight," Decadent!Sora told Unequally!Sora. "In the meanwhile, you know where all the bottles and diapers are, and you have our number if you need help with anything."

Decadent!Chisame put her hands on Unequally!Chisame's shoulders and drilled a fierce stare into her eyes. "And not to pressure you or anything, but if you let anything bad happen to my little brother, I'll kill you slow and painfully."

"We know it's your son," Unequally!Chisame deadpanned.

"I have no idea what are you talking about, " Decadent!Chisame said.

"It's only the four of us and the baby here, you don't need to pretend...!" Unequally!Chisame said.

"Okay, fine. It's _your_ baby, then, " Decadent!Chisame admitted.

"EH?-! WHY MINE?-!"

"If you're me and the baby's mine, then it's yours as well! So you damn better look after him as best as you can, or I'll kill over being a bitch that can't take care of your son properly!"

"I think you're projecting," Unequally!Chisame opined. "And besides, you aren't me, and I'm not you. These two are the same," she pointed at Sora and Sora, who just blinked, "So if I'm her sister and you're her daughter, then I'm not you, but I'm your aunt! That's simple logics at work!"

"Okay. Fail to look after your grandnephew and I'll kill you, then, " Decadent!Chisame hissed.

"Ah," Unequally!Chisame droned. "A true mother speaking."

"Shut up, you."

Unequally!Chisame sighed as she and her sister saw their counterparts leaving for the graduation. "Why does this kind of crap never happen to Calculator?"

"Look at the bright side," Sora smiled, holding baby Nara carefully against herself. "It'll be a good practice for when you—"

"Let's not get in there, okay?"

"But unlike her, you aren't Negi's—"

"I know! Don't go in there, all the same!"

A beat.

"I'm not calling mine 'Nara', by the way," Chisame said. "I think it's a stupid name."

"Really? I think it's very cute..."

…..

**Negi:** **Dear Sisters**

"Dear Little Brooooo-ther...!" Ilya sing-sang as she ran into the room, arms open. "Come have some quality time with your older sister...!"

Decadent!Negi yelped and jumped out the window.

Unequally!Negi sweatdropped and looked out the window. "Um, actually, she meant me, not you. I don't quite believe she's related to you in your universe. I mean, your universe's version of her."

The other Negi answered from the ground. "Ah, sorry. I knew, yeah, just acted out of reflex. My sisters like... games that are not... well..."

"Really? Ilya-chan and me only have tea parties, talk about magic, and stroll along together, " Unequally!Negi blinked. "What kind of games are tho—"

"ASK YOUR MOTHER!" Decadent!Negi shouted. "YOUR MOTHER, NOT MINE, OKAY?-!"

Ilya sighed and took a mental note of asking Decadent!Chisame-san, Asuna-san and Ayaka-san on the subject later.

Elsewhere, _Thirty Xanatos Pile Up_ Ilya paused in the middle of one of her 'Negi injections'. "Somehow, I feel very dirty all of a sudden..."

…..

**Asuna: In Your Shadow**

So, she was back. After so long, after all that had happened, she dared showing her face at the old Academy again.

She really didn't want to.

Despite it being the thing she wanted the most in the world.

The mighty Forgotten Princess, bane of all magic users, able to put the Lifemaker down, was scared out of her wits to face her dear friends again.

She couldn't do it, at least not right now, she decided, while heading away to rest and think. Yes, she'd just think a long while about it, before most likely turning tail and run to do nothing somewhere else. Eventually, she'd cope with it and come back.

To Negi.

And his children.

Children that weren't hers.

Yeah.

Asuna flinched and headed to that old place she always had escaped to when she was a child, wheber Ayaka bothered her too much, or whenever parents visited and she wanted to be far from everyone and their families. It still was pretty much the same (it was good to see some things never changed), except because there was someone else sitting under her favorite tree.

It was herself.

The other her noticed her arrival quickly, jumping back to her feet and readying a fist while pulling a Pactio card out. "Whoa, whoa, calm down!" Asuna told her, stepping closer into her full sight. "Trust me, you don't want to hurt this face!"

The other girl blinked, realization sinking in. "Oh, " she babbled lamely. "Oh, it's... you."

"Yeah, I think so. Although I'm frankly not fully sure about anything anymore. So... Asuna, right?"

"Right, duh," the other Asuna smiled a bit. "Wait. You know about me?"

The older Asuna tapped with her fingers on her own skull twice, then made a spin of said fingers in the air. "I was told, yeah. The person who called me back here told me everything."

"Oh. So you were _called_, " the younger Asuna, somehow, seemed disappointed. "You didn't come out of your own will."

"Well, I wouldn't put it exactly like that..."

The other Asuna sat back down on the grass. "You didn't want to be here. At the Academy, I mean. Otherwise, you'd be with Negi and the others, instead of... right here."

"Point taken, " Asuna sighed and sat next to Asuna. "But it goes both ways, too. Why are _you_ here?"

"Because of you."

"Huh?"

"I've been living in your shadow since I arrived here," the younger Asuna said. "When your friends look at me, they can't see anyone but you, and I can't be the person they want me to be."

"How about your friends?"

"Well, yeah, they can't really understand. Next to your Negi, our Negi plays the little brother, and to some degree, so does everyone else with your guys. Even Arika-sama and... your mom... complement each other despite how much they hate each other's guts. I'm the odd fish out. And your Negi... Negi's the worst of them all."

"How's Negi?" Asuna asked eagerly. The other Asuna snorted to herself.

"Sad."

Asuna's face fell down.

"It's creepy, to see how he loves you so much, " the other Asuna grabbed a peeble and tossed it into the small river. "I know he tries his best to see me as a different person than you, but still... everytime he looks at me, I can feel some new part of him is breaking down."

The older Asuna was still speechless. Unfazed, her counterpart continued, "And you know, it's freaking annoying how every counterpart of mine I meet is the other half of their Negis. Not to offend you, mind, but... At this point, it's like everyone's expecting me to go that route as well. I can't love him _that way_, why can't anyone see that? Even if I try to set facts straight, they'll still only think I'm in denial. Hell, why can't a girl and a boy be just friends? They're just as bad as those obsessed manga friends of Haruna and their anime couples..."

"Wait, you've met others like us before?-!" Kagurazaka held to the last vaguely not threatening to her sanity thing she could understand.

"You're the second one, actually," the young Asuna said. "The first one would be one who played superheroine... Weird, huh? And yet, she was so cool..." she sighed. "She was like the big sister I never could have. And yet, despite all she said on the contrary, I think she loved her Negi _that_ way, even if she hadn't realized it yet. They were very close, either way. Much like you and yours... Much closer than I ever could be to min— ours."

Kagurazaka bit her lower lip. "You were told about..."

"The other layers of your relationship? Yeah, " Asuna sighed and rested her head against the trunk. "I'm... not like you on that, either. Arika-sama, I mean ours, said she only had one child. I'm still not sure who or what the hell I am."

Asuna was startled.

"Ironic, huh?" the younger Asuna commented bitterly. "We were born in the wrong places. I'm the one who should be related to Negi, so I at least could have some family, and you... you should have been free to..."

"I don't mind that, " the older Asuna cut her sharply. "That isn't why I left. At least, I realize it now. I left... so I wouldn't continue hurting him."

"Huh?"

"And that's why I was so afraid of coming back..."

"You idiot, " the young Asuna snapped blandly. "No way your presence is going to hurt that kid as much as your absence. He's a haunt on two legs. Erebus... I mean, the Negi of my Other Me-Neechan, was full of energy and life, and our Negi, well, he's a dumb brat, but he's got hope. Yours is as powerful as Erebus-kun, but... lacks life. Lacks spirit. And that's because he _lacks you_."

The other Asuna rubbed her eyes.

"Something in your eye, I know," Young Asuna played along before her other self could even open her mouth.

"Shut up," Kagurazaka sniffed. "I don't think I ever talked that much."

"Tough. I spent all these months here living under your shadow, like hell I'm not going to vent out on you now I got the chance."

"It's unfair to dump this all on me now I'm here. You have no idea what I've gone through! Don't you think I suffered without _him_, as well?-! Just because you don't care about your Negi, it doesn't mean—!"

"I **do** care about him! Just not the way you do! Or should! I dunno, since I haven't been able to learn it since you weren't here all this time!"

Kagurazaka snarled. "I think it's fair warning you I used to feel that way at first."

Now that made Asuna go pale. "S-Seriously?"

"Ah-hah."

Asuna looked away. "I'll try never going there. Our Negi already has his own special person."

Kagurazaka grew intrigued enough to forget her own distress for a picosecond. "Who?"

Asuna told her.

"Oh, her. Well, I suppose it's logical, when you think about it, " Kagurazaka reasoned. "You sure it's her?"

Asuna nodded. "It helps they aren't siblings either. Or so I hope, at least."

"You have a horrible talent for saying the worst things you could say at any point, don't you?"

"From what I've heard about you, it comes with being Asuna."

"Okay, those are fighting words."

"I was starting to believe you'd never say it. You know what did Twilight Nee-chan do to snap me out of my funk?" she twirled the Pactio card in her fingers. "We _beat the crap out of each other_. And _it worked_." She smirked.

Kagurazaka found herself smirking back despite herself. "You mean she beat the crap out of you, newbie."

"I've been practicing with Ku, Setsuna and Kaede here since I arrived here. Both sets of them, actually, while you were out moping. Wanna see if you haven't rusted too much, old timer?"

"Only one way to check it, don't you think?" Asuna summoned her harisen. It felt almost like the old times.

_"Adeat"_ Asuna summoned her own Pactio. That made Kagurazaka blink.

"Wow. Whoever conceived the magic system in your world was a huge pervert."

"I won't disagree with you there. Bring it on, Nee-san!"

They returned home limping and laughing five hours later.

It felt good to be alive again.

…..

**Arika:** **That Bond**

"So, what will we do today?" the young Negi asked with an eager, sincere smile.

Arika's brow furrowed as she pondered that. While she was actually happy to spend some time with a younger, more naive and innocent, actually happier version of the son she never could share his more childlike days with, she found herself suddenly at a loss of what to do with him.

Come to think of it, all her interactions with her own son had revolved around either serious discussions of weighty matters this Negi wasn't ready for yet (one step at a time, after all) or about sex. Maybe she had, after all, overdone that last part.

Her inner Asuna said 'Nah' quickly (a word she'd never have thought before spending any time with her daughter), but the fact remained, Arika still had no idea what to do with this child so similar and yet so different to her own. As tempting as the idea of having him in a hole while her Negi occupied the other one was, Shield had made her swear she'd respect this Negi's purity. And her royal word was a law to herself more than to anyone else.

"What do you wish to do today? Ask, and I will try to comply," she promised.

Negi blushed cutely and held two tickets for the local fair.

Much like her own child, always prepared for everything.

Arika raised an eyebrow.

In a way, it was like a date. An innocent, light, date, the kind she never had enjoyed with anyone, not even Nagi, in those days always so fraught with peril. That ended up being enough for her.

He'd never love her that way, but seeing him happy more than made up for it.

…..

**Chizuru:** **The Inverted Coin**

"— and that's why he's the only person I've ever met I'm actually glad he's dead, " Decadent!Chizuru shared over the last few tea and pastries remaining.

"I see..." Unequally!Chizuru said, with a somehow vacant nod. "Still, he _was_ your father..."

"I have no father," the other Chizuru stated, soft but firmly. "And I'm hesitant to say I have sisters, as well. Mind, I have nothing but respect and sympathy for Makie-san, but... Oh, my apologies. Surely my story has bothered you. No doubt you might be wondering if the same kind of origins could apply to you..."

"I have all my trust on _my_ father being a good, decent man," Unequally!Chizuru replied without missing a beat. "The good and decent man I've known all through my life."

"That's good to hear. Still, I thought you had the right to know..."

"I know, and I'm thankful about it. I also believe your devotion to your Ayaka is truly commendable. Our Ayaka and me... eventually found it was better to move apart from each other to preserve our friendship, so I can't help but feeling a bit envious about the strength of your bond."

"Oh, like every relationship, it has its fair share of challenges, but overcoming them is what makes it all that much sweeter."

Unequally!Chizuru nodded and served her more tea.

Then they remained silent.

"It's funny to see how completely different we are under identical facades, isn't it?" one of them said. It didn't matter which.

The other one only nodded very seriously. Again, it didn't matter which one of them.

…..

**Ku Fei:** **The Forgotten Corner**

Ku Fei and Ku Fei stared at each other, panting and sweaty after a hard afternoon of sparring. The local Ku had dominated every match easily despite not being using her Pactio, due to superior experience and training, but still, it had been an amusing session for both of them.

"Well, that was a whole fun of fun-aru!"

"Yeah, you said it!"

"I hadn't had this much fun in a long while!"

"Me neither!"

"... Wow. You're... well adjusted!"

"You too!"

"No one around me has been well adjusted since we found Negi-bouzou's mom!"

"I haven't met anyone well adjusted since entering Mahora!"

"..."

"..."

"Let's escape back to China together before we fall too."

"Let's!"

And so they did.

…..

**Fuuka and Fumika:** **Twice the Fun, Twice the Tragedy**

"I see," Unequally!Fuuka said. "Well, it's a real shame your parents feel that way!"

"As if yours wouldn't if they knew," Decadent!Fuuka snorted.

"Actually, they do," Unequally!Fumika said. "They walked on us one year ago. It was awkward at first, yeah, but Daddy's a very liberal psychologist. He said it was a relatively normal phase of our experimenting while we grow up, and he was confident we'd mature out of it if we were left alone, so... they leave us alone."

"No way!" Decadent!Fumika gasped.

"Yeah. Well, good luck with your thing, but we really gotta go now, " Unequally!Fumika said, while turning around and beginning to walk back to the Academy. "It was lot of fun, but... no place like home, you know?"

The Decadent!twins cringed at the mention of home. They shared a pained gaze behind the backs of their retreating counterparts.

Then, slowly, those uneasy faces turned into sinister smiles. They nodded to each other. Words weren't needed.

Fuuka jumped on Fuuka, while Fumika jumped on Fumika...

...

"It took you long enough!" Unequally!Chisame chided the twins as they strolled back into the group. "We were about to leave you behind, you know!"

"Sorry!" Fumika giggled. "We were just taking a bath!"

"Yeah, we had to... ahhhh, clean up after having some fun!" Fuuka chirped. "You know, it wouldn't do to return home all dirty!"

Most of the Unequally!crew cringed, but they were used to the twins' manias by now.

The Hakases nodded as they activated the portal. "It's ready!" they chorused.

"Good, good!" Fuuka seemed unusually happy, even for her. "I hardly can wait!"

Fuuka and Fumika lived happily ever after. Fortunately for them, Unequally!Nodoka never got any mind reading book.

As for Fuuka and Fumika, they never were seen again. Fumika was, after all, very careful about never leaving a mess anywhere...

…..

**Misa: Shameless**

"I don't know how you can do it," the younger Misa said.

"Oh, the first few times are difficult, and you're scared as hell, but once you get used to it, it's all a landslide," the older Misa smiled charmingly over the desserts. They had taken a table in the midle of the restaurant, attracting mesmerized looks from male and female customers alike. They made for a truly fetching set of 'twins'. "Why don't you try it too? Just look at the way everyone's staring at us. We could charge a fortune as a top quality Twin Threesome Fantasy act!"

"I'm saving myself for someone!"

"Who? Negi-kun? Don't waste your time, Misa-chan. You'll never catch that train. I talk from experience."

"But I got a—"

"What? A Pactio? That amounts to nothing when shit gets real. Just ask our Ku Fei, or even Chachamaru. True, you might get a good fuck here and there if your Negi turns out like ours, but you'll never get to be his Number One."

The younger Misa sulked at those words. "I never thought I'd ever say this, but you're a very shallow person."

"I'm realistic and that's it. Listen to your Oneechan!" she sing-sang, taking another spoonful of sundae. "I can't believe you still hold on to that cherry. Haven't you ever had a boyfriend?"

"Well, yeah, of course I did! I gave him head and a few handjobs while we were together, but... I never wanted to go all the way with him. Which was for the best, because he turned out to be a creep."

"All men are. Even Negi-kun; he just hasn't realized it yet. That's why we must beat them in their own game!"

"I dunno..."

"C'mon, you won't regret it. I'll be guiding you each step of the way..." Her cellphone beeped. "Wait a sec, dear. Yeah? Oh, it's you! Of course I'm free. Just hanging with a friend. Yeah, I'm available! Fine. I'll be there. Love you!"

She smiled at her counterpart. "We're in luck! I've got a date right now!"

"Who is it?"

"Stepdaddy. He had to cancel a meeting and wants to relieve his frustrations out."

Misa had to do a spit-take. "Stepddady?-! Wait a sec, do you have the same stepdaddy I have? Balding, slight but noticeable beer gut, glasses, brown eyes?"

"A-yep. Don't tell me yours hasn't ever shown any interest on you."

Misa sneered. "The bastard's been checking me out since he married Mom. I've told her, but she won't ever believe me. And you go to bed with that guy? That takes some guts!"

"Oh, he's a sweetie when you rub him the right way, " Kakizaki teased. "We're due to meet in our favorite love hotel. Nice place, they never ask any questions. Wanna come with me? I mean, it's late, and I could run into punks on my way. And, well, you have those Pactio needles..."

"You wanna have me as your bodyguard?"

"Sure, why not? Customers can get pushy at times, too. Yeah, it wouldn't hurt to have a sister to look after me. You don't have to be with the guys, but that doesn't mean we can't work together."

Misa nodded, liking the idea. "You're on. I'll drop you at the hotel's doorstep, you make your way back with Stepdaddy, and you'll pay me tomorrow. We can't have him seeing me and asking questions."

"Hey, we always could tell him you're another daughter Daddy had on the side. He won't tell Mommy if he wants to keep his secret safe too."

Misa had to smirk. "Do you think you're Sakurako? Don't push your luck..."

...

"Hey, you're late, " Madoka called out from where she sat watching TV, in nothing but a T-shirt and panties. "I tried to call you, but you cut your phone's line. Why?"

"I was... busy, " Misa looked at the bunk where two naked Sakurakos slept in each other's arms, the bedsheets over them not managing to hide anything important. "Say, what is—"

"Don't ask," Madoka deadpanned.

"I don't think I need to. By the way, how went your day with the other you?"

"That girl has issues," the young Kugimiya snorted. "She drank until she puked on me, and I had to carry her all the way over to her room. I know what I _don't_ want to be when I grow up."

Misa smiled. "Oh, on the other hand, today I learned what I want to be in the future!"

"And what is it?"

Misa's smile grew as she pulled a big fat wad of yen bills out. "Onee-sama."

…..

**Nekane:** **Changeling**

From the moment she met him, Nekane Springfield knew there was something off about that other Negi.

He had the correct mannerisms, the right height and appearance. No one in his party or her Negi's would ever have thought of them as different people, besides the obvious differences come from their Mahora divergences.

The thing was, they all had only known him for a rather short while. Even his mother. Especially his mother.

But Nekane Springfield had raised a Negi Springfield, and her instincts told her, clearly, that wasn't her Negi Springfield. At all.

Still, she liked him a lot, and he liked her back, no doubt seeing his own dead cousin in her. Even so, that fact also made it much more painful for him. Nekane was a constant reminder of Nekane's death, and that was on top of all the other causes the older Negi had to grief.

When it became obvious the stranded Ala Alba couldn't make it back home anymore, Nekane chose to go back to Wales, to that Wales she had never known, to make the local Negi's load more bearable. Besides, it would save him a lot of additional public scandals if Nekane Springfield was thought alive and well. They barely had avoided the bullets of his three students' pregnancies becoming public knowledge, after all.

Her own Negi had objected, but Nekane told him it was better that way. They would meet again, she promised, soon, hopefully after they found Alternate Uncle Nagi.

And so, Nekane returned to a town that was identical to her own, to neighbors who welcomed her with open arms. They told her the Japanese weather had worked wonders on her; why, she looked _years_ younger now! Nekane laughed and nodded, only stopping when she met the Merdiana Dean again.

She knew he knew. She was certain of it. It was evident in his tired eyes. Perhaps Konoemon had told him. Whatever the reason, he knew, but he chose to say nothing on it. He welcomed her as well, and Nekane thanked him efusively, hiding her uneasiness behind her beautiful smile.

Then she ran into Anya as well. Anya knew, too; the local Negi had managed to call her telling her the basics. Nekane had to fill on the painful details, much to her chagrin.

"You aren't her, " Anya said, the words obvious, but the bitterness behind them being what actually mattered.

"I am Nekane Springfield."

"Yeah, but you aren't _her_. And you'll never be."

"I know. Believe me, I wish she could be here now."

That sincere tone softened Anya's attitude. "S-Sorry. I didn't mean anything bad. That wasn't your fault, of course. It's just... just..."

For yet another time since her arrival to that world, Nekane had to comfort a crying child over their loss.

They spent a few happy and peaceful months after that, and the world seemed to be exactly the same as it always had been in Nekane's life. Until she found the journal in the secret private spot where she had hid her poetry books in her own home, realms apart.

_An Apology, from Nekane Springfield._

_In the event Queen Arika ends my life, justified as she may be, before I can explain myself, I leave this testimony behind for those closest to me. I don't attempt to justify myself; nothing ever could excuse my actions. However, while I know I'm being selfish, I wish to explain the reasons behind my unspeakable sins..._

Nekane read, horrified, line after line. And once she was done, she cried like she hadn't cried since that fatidic day in the snow. She cried more than when Mr. Deadpool had left her, more than the day Negi, her Negi, her _cousin_, left for Mahora. She cried for those two children, and for the misguided soul, so similar to her, who simply took a wrong decision that led to a lifetime of worse ones. She cried after realizing how a simple event could kickstart the ruin of so many lives.

And yet, it almost disgusted her how her first reaction after calming down at last was worrying about herself, about the possibilities of... No, of course not. She was only nine when she first lay eyes on her Negi, when Father brought him to their home and announced they'd raise that orphaned cousin from now on. And if her parents hadn't lied to her (although she couldn't believe that was such a sure thing anymore), Uncle Nagi spent the whole year she was conceived far from Wales, fighting in Mundus Magicus.

Nekane rubbed her eyes. That life didn' matter so much anymore. What mattered the most was honoring the parallel life she had assumed.

As she watched the journal burning in the fireplace, she tried to tell herself it was the right thing to do. The older Negi had lost so many things, it would have been cruel to take away both his faith on his sister and the belief on his mother. She'd keep the secret to her grave, no matter how horrible the load was. It was time she started making her share of sacrifices too.

That most likely meant she'd have to stay far from the local Miss Miyazaki from now on, but that didn't seem to be such an issue, the way the librarians were drifting apart both from each other and from the local Ala Alba...

Now she understood why her other self's body had been drained out, obviously by Evangeline, when they found it. She always had been puzzled about it. If Evangeline hadn't forced it to happen out of pure malice, which was impossible to learn from her in her current state, then they had to assume that Nekane had sacrificed herself. But why hadn't she trusted her Negi and their companions to pull it off without her death? Now she knew why.

Guilt. But mostly, a kind of love that surpassed any logics.

A mother's.

Nekane had made a lot of mistakes in her life as well (the brief Black Rose Baron fiasco came easily to her mind), but she wouldn't perpetuate those of the life she had assumed. She found the small unmarked grave and put a name on it. A simple inscription, not a very telling one, just in case. If she was ever asked, she'd say it had been a cousin. Which, in a way, was true.

_N. Springfield. Beloved Son and Brother._

A changeling is a creature of legends, left by pixies, brownies and trolls to replace the human babies in their cradles. Those legends had always fascinated and also scared Nekane, who for a time had an irrational fear of Negi being replaced. Time had made her cope with those fears. She knew her Negi was irreplaceable. As for her...

"And so, as your brother is to you, I am to your sister," she whispered to the small grave. "We're changelings, but if that's what we must be for the greater good, so be it. I'm sorry I can't be your mother. But although we never met, I'll always love you all the same."

At Mahora, the older Negi looked at the grave marked _N. Springfield. Beloved Daughter and Sister._ The younger Negi stood back respectfully. Finally, he asked, "What will you say if someone asks what the N means?"

"I'll tell them... for me, it meant everything."

…..

**Chamo: Why did you Have to Do It?**

The small animal stood before the small grave, and then spat on it.

"Do you have any idea how hard you've made things for me?-! Now no one will trust me to make Pactios! You sent my personal finances down the toilet, creep!"

…..

**Mei and Takane: Bland**

"... I see. Not much difference between us, then..."

"No, not really. Come to think about it, compared to everyone else, I guess that means we're lucky."

"Yeah, I'd say so..."

"Definitely!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"... Foursome?"

"Oh well, why not..."

…..

**Shizuna: Abnormal Normality**

The local Shizuna-sensei was shocked to see she was the only one whose counterpart was much more messed up in the other world. Actually, she wasn't that messed up either, just a depressed mess submerged into self pity. And developing a troubling proclivity to liquor. (It'd probably pay to see why she and the local Kugimiya-kun had started getting along so well). But still, everyone else was either much more innocent (like Negi-sensei) or... much less innocent, but not so grim and self destructive (like Saotome-kun).

The other Shizuna-sensei, on the other hand, was proving to be a drag. Shizuna-sensei had started trying to help her by finding her a boyfriend, but it proved to be difficult since guys kept on mistaking them for each other.

Shizuna-sensei ended up just fed up with her, marrying one of those guys herself, and leaving Mahora, delegating her old job on her counterpart.

Shizuna-sensei never forgave her over that, but then again, that was old hat for her. She never before had forgiven herself, after all.

…..

**Next Chapter:** A probable future. Aisaka Sayo, Shinigami, Soul Reaper, Soldier of Soul Society. Charged with reaping her classmates' counterparts one after another through the decades. The sad and yet hopeful saga of Ala Alba's final days. Be here, and be good.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own _Mahou Sensei Negima_. That claims belongs to Akamatsu Ken, who really really really REALLY has dropped the ball with the manga's ending, but let's not get there lest I get a migraine…

I don't own _Mai Hime_ or _Batman_ either. Those belong to Sunrise and DC Comics.

I am not making any money out of this. If I could make money out of fanfics, believe me, I'd write a lot more!

Thanks to Darkenning for the inspiration. Also thanks to Shadow Crystal Mage, I Am Not Creative Enough, and the rest of the gang. Darkenning and SCM also guest-wrote some snippets for this chapter. You'll recognize them because they are the good ones.

These snippets aren't in actual continuity with _Unequally, 2814_ or _Decadent_. Or with each other, as a matter of fact.

Please try to enjoy and review. In that order.

_When Harry met Sally_ had nothing on this. _Aliens vs. Predator vs. Terminator_ and _Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash_ were warm-ups…

DECADENTLY HABITUAL, HABITUALLY EMOTIONAL

**Takahata- by OverMaster**

"Negi-kun, not to bother you, but I'd like a detailed explanation on why, as soon as I appeared in your world, the male student body began to boo and hiss at me, the Dean attempted to kill me thrice, and half of the female students I ran into escaped away shrieking, while the other half gave me their phone numbers..."

**Takahata Addendum- by Darkenning**

Negi took a long look at the counterpart of the person with whom his true love had run off, and calmly told him, "Suck it up."

**Nodoka- by Darkenning**

"Here we are," Decadent!Nodoka said cheerfully as she slid into the booth, gesturing for her counterpart to take the seat on the other side of the table.

Unequally!Nodoka looked about uneasily. Dressed in her best, rather frilly, dress, she looked very out of place in the rather dark and dingy environs of the place to which her counterpart had suggested they go. "What is this place, anyway?" she asked as she settled in.

"It's a bar," Decadent!Nodoka answered as she pulled her lighter and a small cardboard box out of a pocket of the black vest she wore over her white blouse. Combined with black jeans, she looked far more at home than the other one did. "Mind if I smoke?"

"Y-yes," Unequally!Nodoka stammered. "Um, I guessed that it was a bar. But ..." She looked around, lowered her voice and spoke conspiratorially. "... do the people who are running it not know that we're underage?"

"We." The local Nodoka chuckled as she put away her cigarettes and lighter, then shook her head. "Yes, they know, they just don't care. They serve all types here. As long as you mind your own business, the proprietor will mind theirs. I kind of developed a liking for the place while I was keeping an eye on our Natsuki. She used to have all kinds of clandestine meetings here."

"Ahh," the dimensionally displaced Nodoka said, wondering at that chuckle. _She's only a year or so older than I am, right?_

The conversation went into a hiatus as their drinks arrived - an iced coffee for Decadent!Nodoka, and a juice for Unequally!Nodoka.

"So tell me," she said abruptly as she sipped at her coffee. "What's it like to be a Card Captor?"

"Do the cards exist here, too?" It occurred to her that it was rude to answer a question with a question, but she was very curious.

Decadent!Nodoka nodded. "According to Yue, there was a Clow Reed, and he created some magical cards, and a girl mastered them ... but this was all while I was in kindergarten, and I've never met her."

"Well, it's scary sometimes, but I have to do my part to clean up the mess I made," Unequally!Nodoka said dutifully. "And it lets me be helpful to our Negi-sensei."

"But you still wonder whether you could do more if you had a pactio like that other Nodoka you met. And like me," she added, with false modesty.

"How do you know about that?"

"I read minds," she observed. In much the same way that someone might say, "People die when they are killed."

"Oh. Um ... but, is that right? Doing that to people without their permission."

"It lets me be helpful to our Negi-sensei," she parrotted the other girls words back at her, making her flush. "I used to worry about things like that. Then I started reading the minds of some very, very bad people, and suddenly their privacy didn't seem important any more. Lots of things didn't seem important any more, when compared to making sure that what was on their minds never became real."

Unequally!Nodoka just stared at her counterpart for a long while before she spoke again. "Why are you so angry?" she asked at last

"Why are you so sad?" the other girl countered. Into the silence that followed, "I bet it's the same reason. Your Negi made a choice, didn't he, and that choice wasn't you. Any more than it was me."

Decadent!Nodoka reached out and rested a hand on her counterpart's hand, and then, with the innate gentleness of an avalanche, said, "Get over it."

Like someone slammed, the displaced Nodoka jerked back. "How can you say that?" she cried. "You're so angry about it, how can you say that I should get over it?"

"Because I'm reading _your_mind, and I know that, unlike me, you haven't given him more of yourself than you should ever give anyone," the local girl said, still heartlessly. "You can still be happy. You and your -"

"No, I'm not listening to you anymore," Unequally!Nodoka announced, standing up and edging out of the booth. "You have nothing to say that I want to hear. You, you are the perfect example of the person I _never_want to be."

She watched the girl run away, and didn't smile until she was gone. It was maybe a ghost of the sweet smile that she'd had when she was that young - except that she wasn't sure that she'd ever been that young.

"Then I must be doing something right," she murmured at last.

**Deadpool- by OverMaster**

"It's done!" Deadpool triumphantly cried as he returned, holding the Cassiopeia high. "To save this alternate dimension from disaster and grief, I went back in time and undid the fateful event that set everyone up in a path of unending pain only broken by brief spells of misleading joy! I went back to Wales when Negi and Nekane's baby were still both alive, and killed them!"

URAE! Nekane gave him a look of utter horror. "Wade! You had to save them both!"

"Oh, was it that? Sorry, Sugar. I always mix the 'save babies' and 'kill babies' orders up. Never mind, I'll just go back again..."

"It's done!" Deadpool triumphantly cried as he returned, holding the Cassiopeia high. "To save this alternate dimension from disaster and grief, I went back in time and undid the fateful event that set everyone up in a path of unending pain only broken by brief spells of misleading joy! I went back to Mundus Magicus when a young Nagi was sleeping, and castrated him so he couldn't leave horny children fated to commit incest everywhere!"

URAE! Nekane gave him a look of utter horror. "Wade! You prevented this universe's Negi, Chisame and Ayaka from ever existing!"

"... I did it, didn't I? I knew there was something wrong with that plan. Never fear, Pumpkin Pie, I'll just go back and fix everything for you..."

"It's done!" Deadpool triumphantly cried as he returned, holding the Cassiopeia high. "To save this alternate dimension from disaster and grief, I went back in time and undid the fateful event that set everyone up in a path of unending pain only broken by brief spells of misleading joy! This time, I went back and did everything right! Nagi kept his wang, and I saved both Negis from an early death! Are you happy now, Sweetie?"

"Uhhhh, actually..." a stone faced URAE!Nekane pointed to where Decadent!Negi and Decadent!Nekane's Negi-lookalike son were caressing Arika and Decadent!Nekane's faces while they took them from behind...

**Batman- by OverMaster**

"- and that's why I locked myself here," the bearded Wayne said, slightly leaning ahead on his cane. "After Rachel and Harvey, I just couldn't go on. You?"

"I have kept on going after having fought the Harvey Dent I know twelve times already, after one of the assassins who trained me killed the woman I was close to at the time to frame me, after I had my back broken, after my kid sidekick was shot by the Joker and nearly died, after a massive plague rattled my Gotham, and after a planet devourer giant god from outer space nearly destroyed Earth," the Batman standing before him answered.

"Good for you, I guess," Wayne said, accepting one of the snacks Alfred was serving them. "A broken back? Are you sure you aren't a metahuman? Because I wasn't doing that for half as much time as you have, and yet the doctors say..."

"I'm Batman," was all he needed to reply.

"No, you are a dead man, just this short of stumbling into your grave. Or a metahuman," Wayne shook his head. "I wish you good luck all the same. Anything else you wanted to know?"

"... Can I have the number of your Lucius Fox?"

**Mai- by OverMaster**

Unequally! Tokiha Mai squirmed uneasily on her seat. "So, it's really no joke at all, then. You two..."

Decadent! Tokiha Mai nodded firmly, while her Takumi followed her cue farm more nervously.

Unequally! Tokiha Mai turned to her own Takumi. "And that's the way you feel too..."

Unequally! Takumi, after a moment of silence, nodded with even more reluctance than his counterpart.

Unequally! Mai ran a suddenly icy hand down her face. "My God. I, I really don't know what to say."

Himemiya Anthy smiled and patted her roommate-master's back. "Mai-sama, please don't feel bad. Why, that's the exact same nature of the ties my brother and me share..."

"Way too much information, Anthy!"

Decadent! Mikoto was on her hands and knees, playing around with Chuchu like a kitten toying with a mouse. Unequally! Mai briefly worried that weird girl was going to eat the monkey-mouse, who now was officially the second strangest creature she had ever met.

"So," Decadent! Mai spoke then, "Where did you get yourself a sexual slave?"

"She isn't my sexual slave! I'm not as gone as y-" Then, noticing the sudden pang of pain on her own brother's face, she covered her features with a hand again. "Sorry. I'm still getting used to all of this. I don't get it. If YOUR father is still alive, why does he allow you to-"

"He doesn't know," Decadent! Mai shrugged. "Not like he'd care, I believe, like he's never actually cared about anything in our lives."

"I see," Unequally! Mai tapped on her chin with two fingers. So that was what made the difference between them? Her father had always been, in Mai's opinion, a saint. Maybe Takumi-kun turned out, well, that way, since he lost his father figure at such a young age. "How depressing. I haven't been able to guide my brother through a straight path, although I guess I could have done worse..."

"Hey!" the other Mai said.

"Anyway, I still haven't answered your question," her counterpart said. "Sorry about that. I gained Anthy's hand after defeating an abusive Sempai in a sword duel at a castle that hung upside down from the sky."

"Wait, since when can I, well, you, use a sword?-!"

Decadent! Takumi blinked. "Nee-chan, that part shocks you more than the castle?"

"I don't know!" Mai tossed her hands up. "I just grabbed the sword, entered the duel area, and then something entered me! I've been told that's the power of something called a Dios, and since then, I've had to fight duelist after duelist, since they all want to take Anthy away! And every time, the same spirit posseses me to fight! I'm going to call either an exorcist or a fencing teacher so I don't have to go through this again! Or both!"

Decadent! Mai blinked. "Huh. Poor girl, your life's even weirder than me. How are you handling the whole Hime thing, then?"

"What are you talking about now?"

"What? You know, the whole issue with the Himes? And the red star?"

"Which red star?"

They looked at each other for a moment.

The Takumis looked back and forth between them.

"Anyway," Unequally! Mai finished, with a sigh, "I'll have to ask you to stop fucking my brother around. Not only that's horribly unhealthy for him, not only he needs moving away from that, not only you're a horrible person by playing that 'sandwich' thing with them, but I feel dirty just by thinking you're doing that."

"Oh, sure, and now everything's about you. Why don't you ask Takumi if he wants to stop?"

"I do!" one Takumi quickly said.

"I mean him," Decadent! Mai pointed to Unequally! Takumi.

"Ehhhhh, well, I..."

In the next room, both Naos stared at each other.

"Well, yeah," Decadent! Nao finished the cookies Mikan had brought them, "They taste good! But like hell I'm envious of your deal in life! It has only made you softer! I'd eat you alive in a fight!"

"Wanna test me yourself, knucklehead?"

"Fine with me, bitch!"

"Bring it on!"

Mikan rasped disapprovingly, slightly shaking a wooden spoon around.

Both Naos sat back down grumpily.

A long silence after, Decadent! Nao angrily extended an empty glass Mikan's way.

"More milk, please."

**Haruka- by Darkenning**

"Yukino is really your unwetting sister, but you haven't told her?" Unequally!Haruka gasped.

"You proposed marrionettage to Negi-sensei?" Decadent!Haruka gasped.

As one, each lifted a hand to point a swirly-tipped finger at the other. "Degenerous!" they cried in synchrony.

And neither spoke another word to the other for the duration of their time on the same planet.

An anthropomorphic personification of language wept in relief.

**Reito- by OverMaster**

Decadent! Reito sat in silence before the grave.

"Well," he finally said. "I suppose this isn't something just anyone can say to have experienced, if I may be excused on stating the obvious. To be honest, I find the experience to be quite disturbing, although maybe not as much as I should."

He read his own name on the gravestone and the death date yet again.

"So young, too. A true shame, if I may say it myself..."

A tiny part of him, one that grew by the second, gnawing on the back of his mind, just figuratively pointed at the grave and laughed his black heart off.

Outwardly, Reito just smiled pleasantly. "Rest in peace, Kanzaki-san. Goodnight, sweet prince."

**Rainyday: Indulgent Tastes- by Shadow Crystal Mage**

URAE!Zazie stared at Decadent!Zazie. Only Satsuki had really noticed anything, though sharp-eyed Asakura had felt something was off about the two, even if she couldn't tell what. The two dark-skinned girls were of a height and build, and the others had easily dismissed the fact their facial tattoos were mirrors of each other— that is, flipped, as if one of them was looking at the girl in the mirror. After all, in this strange world were Haruna seemed to an upright, moral girl, Nodoka seemed to be some kind of dark loner needing only a poorly considered, non-specific oath of vengeance, and Evangeline was a genuine, if slightly bratty ten year-old girl, what was a few tattoos?

"…" Zazie said fluently.

"…" 'Zazie' replied.

… Satsuki interjected.

Abruptly, one of them stepped forward and enveloped the other dark-skinned girl in a hug, who was left to blink in surprise.

-—

… Satsuki repeated, a little jealously and slightly annoyed.

It wasn't that 'Zazie' née Poyo had appropriated her kitchen and was stewing something that apparently involved multicolored eggs the size of her head, insect-eyed fish, and the most perverse combination of spices and sugar she'd even seen. Her professional curiosity wanted to see the result.

It wasn't the redecorating. She had absolutely no objection to someone else sweeping up and tidying away, and if the new drapes, lamps, throw pillows, carpet, wall hangings and incense burners were conspicuously out of their regular price range, they were at least quite tasteful and soothing, which was probably their point.

It wasn't the singing, a low, intense, sensuous ballad in High, near-Archaic Mazoku, using words normally reserved for the mazoku-equivalent of religious worship, with several blasphemies thrown in. Or was that the other way around? Her understanding of the language, as well as Negi-sensei's English lessons, were helpful, but even without them she could tell Zazie was being serenaded rather vehemently.

It wasn't even the the fact her bed had been appropriated and decked with satin sheets, silk pillows, a perfume cloud just short of cloying and her naked girlfriend. All right, truthfully her naked, sweating, writhing, spasming, contorting, grunting, humping, sheet-staining, moaning and outright swearing girlfriend sort of had something to do with it, but she had to admit the presentation was a enjoyable enough that she would normally have been willing to give it a pass.

"There! Oh, yes, there, there, there! Oh, Darkness Within, don't stop! Ah! Ohhhhhhh, ohhhhhh Chaos Incarnate, Gold Upon The Eternal Sea, I am not worthy!"

It was that Zazie had been blaspheming on variations of that theme for the last half-hour. That half-hour had contained more vocabulary, grammar, religious heresy, and verbalizing from Zazie then all the lovemaking in their relationship put together. Even for an easygoing, accepting, 3-A girl like Satsuki, that was the sort of thing to get her riled up.

Honestly, it seemed a gross over reaction to a back massage.

'Zazie', still clad in her school skirt, socks and blouse, looked up frim her position kneeling on Zazie's back at that, a slightly annoyed look on her face, and Satsuki winced, reminding herself she should really learn to stop verbalizing her thoughts like that, even under her breath.

'Zazie' didn't seem to take too much offense at the remark, something that was completely unlike Zazie's sister that Satsuki had met. Not long after, 'Zazie' rose, to Zazie's long, regretful whine. 'Zazie' patted her cheek in mock admonishment, and moved to head towards the kitchen area, ignoring Zazie's continued mewling from the large wet spot on the sheets, not entirely made from sweat. As she passed Sasatsuki, 'Zazie' held up her hand. It took a puzzled Satsuki a moment 'Zazie' wanted her to do the same. 'Zazie' tagged her, smiling beatifically as she made a Vanna White-esque gesture towards Zazie on the bed. Satsuki blinked in confusion.

'Zazie' rolled her eyes, pulled Satsuki up, and nudged her emphatically towards the bed before continuing towards the kitchen.

Oh. OH! Well, that had been nice of her, warming Zazie up. Though Satsuki really understand why—

And then all thought about such petty questions was kicked out of her head as Zazie leapt at her and the blasphemies became a duet.

Poyo whistled as she tested Zazie's favorite stew and found it palatable, setting the stove on a low heat to keep it warm as she began setting the table, smiling contentedly at the sounds in the background. There was nothing like losing a sibling to make you appreciate them. She supposed pampering Zazie like this was a bit much, but honestly, she'd missed her sister so…

Whistling, she began to strip as she turned to join in…

**Rainyday v2: Childish Indulgence- by Shadow Crystal Mage**

URAE!Zazie stared at Decadent!Zazie. Only Satsuki had really noticed anything, though sharp-eyed Asakura had felt something was off about the two, even if she couldn't tell what. The two dark-skinned girls were of a height and build, and the others had easily dismissed the fact their facial tattoos were mirrors of each other— that is, flipped, as if one of them was looking at the girl in the mirror. After all, in this strange world were Haruna seemed to an upright, moral girl, Nodoka seemed to be some kind of dark loner needing only a poorly considered, non-specific oath of vengeance, and Evangeline was a genuine, if slightly bratty ten year-old girl, what was a few tattoos?

"…" Zazie said fluently.

"…" 'Zazie' replied.

… Satsuki interjected.

Abruptly, one of them stepped forward and enveloped the other dark-skinned girl in a hug, who was left to blink in surprise.

One could be mistaken for wondering when Satsuki had adopted a tiger cub at the purring coming from the dorm room.

… Satsuki said in confusion as she watched the two and didn't know whether to be jealous or melt in a puddle of goo. Oh, and be aroused, but that was sort of a given. The twin threesome fantasy is not a purely male fantasy.

Zazie had, of course, been highly suspicious on why a version of her sister from another universe would impersonate her in said universe. A suspicion that had gotten confused when Poyo had been quite insistent on attending Zazie's near every whim. It had gotten to the point, as it did in every wish fulfillment story, that the recipient wanted it to stop, since she wasn't having fun any more. And contrary to narrative precedent, Poyo had.

Now, Zazie was getting a manicure. It was involving a metal file, a power tool, several different grades of whetstones, and an industrial-grade polishing compound that had required they open a window.

"…" 'Zazie chided gently at the state of Zazie's nails, even as she carefully filed down a nick on one of the foot and a half long disemboweling tools with the same hesitant, almost disbelieving care she had when ruffling Zazie's hair.

"…" Zazie blushed, childishly maintaining she'd been busy.

'Zazie' cast a sideways glance at Satsuki, and mused that she supposed Zazie was. Satsuki was looking thinner than the one from her world. She supposed they were both enjoying the exercise.

As Satsuki wondered whether this was a veiled insult— it didn't feel like it— 'Zazie' began a rambling story from when she and Zazie had been children. From the blush and mounting mortification on her girlfriend's face, Satsuki divined it was also an embarrassing one.

As she listened in mounting amusement at Zazie's antics, both in the story and now as her classmate frantically tried to get 'Zazie' to stop but unable to do so since her nails were still clamped on the industrial vice where they were being worked on, Satsuki heard the wistfulness and regret in the imposter's voice. Her sister was dead: Poyo had made that perfectly clear, lost beyond where even mazoku couldn't go, except by going the same way.

It wasn't often one got to say the things left unsaid, even for only a short time…

**Conversations with Sayo: Nodoka- by OverMaster**

"Sayo..." for a moment, she was about to finish with a '-chan', but then she remembered she had not called anyone using that suffix for decades. "... san?"

The ghost girl offered her a pale, icy hand to help her stand back up. As she did so, Nodoka noticed she was standing from her own body, which lied on the cold and dusty floor of the catacomb, with her neck twisted aside, and her magical flashlight dying at a few inches from her hand. "... Oh. I suppose we can't all die like heroes in battle."

"As long as you don't die alone and with a heart full of regrets, the rest doesn't matter," Sayo said, rather pointedly for being, well, Sayo.

Nodoka flinched. "Good thing, then, I didn't die with regrets."

"Sorry. I correct myself," Sayo quickly said. "As long as you don't die alone and with a heart full of regrets and lies, the rest doesn't matter."

Nodoka gave her a cold glare. "You have changed. And I don't think for the better."

The girl before her nodded quietly. She wasn't any taller the Sayo Nodoka knew, but she was wearing black and white robes, carried a long sword around, and mostly, her face sported a solemn and even stern expression. "Just like you. But, before we go any further, I'm not the Aisaka Sayo you knew, my apologies. Not in any sense at all. I have come from another realm."

Nodoka remembered a certain incident so many years ago. "Of course. The event with the parallel world."

"Exactly. I am," and she bowed formally, "Kurosaki Sayo, at least since my marriage. After taking this post, it is my duty to guide the souls of Ala Alba everywhere to their beyond. No matter the world. Because Ala Alba, you'll see, is special..."

"And I'm not Ala Alba. Not for years and years, too many for me to count as one in the larger scheme of my life. I'm sorry," Nodoka said, "But I can't go with you then."

Those red eyes became harsher, a far cry from anything Nodoka could identify as belonging to Sayo. "And I'm afraid," she said, "This isn't a matter either of us can ignore or especially reject. You are dead, so you must leave with me. This is not negotiable, and believe me, if it were up to me, I'd leave you here, alone forever, since that's apparently what you wish for so much."

Nodoka sighed. "Spare me the rest. I need no magical books to read your mind now. You'll tell me of how I should have moved on, and how I brought this on myself, but do you know what? I don't care. I'm very past caring about any of that."

"Of course you are. You went past that long ago. Today, only your body died. You killed your heart right before killing your maturity."

"My maturity? Please. Just because they gave you a supposedly high rank job, no doubt out of pity, you think you can lecture me on maturity, Kurosaki-san?" she hissed, allowing her blunt lack of any familiarity sink in. "As I cut my ties to that life, one by one, I finally grew up. I stopped being a lovesick child. I...!"

Then Sayo did the unexpected.

She laughed on her face.

Not a giggle. Not a long or cruel laughter, but jut the fact it had happened was enough.

Possessed by a sudden indignation she didn't know she had in her, Nodoka slapped her. "Don't laugh at me! I won't allow that from you of all people! I stopped being a doormat-!"

Then the slap was returned, its power multiplied so much Nodoka fell back, wondering how anyone could feel so much pain after dying. Looming over her fallen spiritual frame, Sayo stood with crimson glowing eyes. "Respect, not me, but my post, Miyazaki Nodoka. You call yourself mature? You more than anyone should remember Lewis' words. 'When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up'. You were mature and brave without realizing it. You became a cowardly child when you tried to forget you feared, instead of keeping it in mind and overcoming it. All because you were rejected by a boy. All your problems, all your issues, all of them stem from that. Well, guess what. Several others suffered from that, and yes, moved on. I told you that as you had expected. Satisfied?"

Nodoka only shot her a truly vicious glare from between her graying bangs.

"No. You still haven't told me of how, had I done what you say, I'd have escaped dying here like a stray dog, leaving nothing but a skeleton to be found in centuries, and a footnote in history books. Still, the fact remains, this is as close to a happy ending as I ever could have had."

"You still haven't learned anything," Sayo noted, with some sadness, almost sounding like Sayo again.

Nodoka flowed back to her immaterial, now vague, feet, looking away. "There is nothing to learn. I already learned everything, back then. This was the only truth left for me."

"No," Sayo firmly said. "This was the only truth, the only path you wanted to take."

"Is there a difference?"

"Yes. All the differences in the world."

"I promised myself I wouldn't cry ever again. Not even if I had to become a monster for it."

"And yet, you not only became a monster, but one who has cried inside every day since day."

"That isn't true. I made peace with my inner demons."

"You didn't made peace with them. You capitulated to them. But if you would have just exhausted your tears while you still could, you would have achieved happiness after it."

"And where were you to tell me that back then?"

"I'd have made no difference. Just like you didn't listen to anyone who told you back then, would you have listened to me?"

Nodoka trembled. "I... I hate you already."

"Yes, you do. Because I reflect what there is in your spirit. Which is all you have left now."

After a long silence, Nodoka agreed. "True."

"Will you follow me now, please?"

Sayo extended the hand again. Nodoka took it quietly. "And... Yue and Paru...?"

"Haruna-san... didn't achieve her peace either. But Yue-san is at peace in her reward," Sayo whispered, sounding even more like Sayo now.

"I see," Nodoka said, after waiting without getting any more answers. "Then, no matter what waits for me, I suppose I can go mildly happy. That is something, isn't it?"

Sayo nodded.

She squeezed the cold small hand, and they walked together into the all-consuming light.

**NEXT:** Future Unequally Sayo comes for Decadent Haruna's soul! Plus, Unequally Joker tells us the secrets of life and the universe!


End file.
